Laugh for the day

last night I went out to check the irrigation (which is new) and walking around the house - I'm staying close to the house to avoid the sprinkler that was going and as I stepped next to that sprinkler I sunk up to my knee with the mud filling in behind me - I pulled my leg out (not an easy task btw it was really really stuck) - then I reached in to pull my shoe out - which by now has been completely covered by the mud that moved back in when I pulled my leg out - so I have to keep reaching around in the mud (mud up above my elbow btw) to find it -- all the while lying on the ground because when I went I went all the way down --- pure grace in action you know --- and by this time the sprinkler has come back around and is now facing me again - here I am sort of laying in the mud sort of kneeling in the mud and pulling on my shoe trying to break the mud suction that has formed - laughing and getting soaked as the sprinkler is going directly in my face with the head of it being about 6 inches away from me - here I sit with one arm in the mud and my other hand up in front of me trying to keep some of the spray from hitting me in the face - I finally pull the shoe out - I have mud up the bottom of my shorts - I am soaked, mud covered and laughing and I can't get up -- the ground is too slippery - I tried 3 different ways to get up and ended up getting on my hands and knees and pushing at the ground hoping that my hands and feet wouldn't keep slipping in opposite directions too far (tell me you can just picture that - and it is exactly what you are picturing) and finally I managed to get up.

So now my shoes are on the porch - my clothes are down in the basement waiting to get washed later - I stood in the shower to rinse off and put more sand and dirt down my drain than I probably should have and I still had to go out later to be sure the timer for the irrigation was timing off.

All in all an average day in the life of rho....

Visitors to the field across the street from us

3 deer in field across from my house 8/23/08
Originally uploaded by rho1640

We have been watching this family of deer all during the summer - it is a little hard to see them I know but that is as close as they come to the road. The two smaller ones have grown so much even in the last month - This year there are 3 last year there were 5 total.

And no - none of them ended up in our freezer. We don't hunt in our front yard - and I think it might be against village ordinance anyway ;)

Hair

a picture of my hair since I started letting it go naturally curly - not to mention naturally white. I'm loving how much easier it is to go with the flow rather than fighting it everyday only to have it do what it wants anyway. Of course for this hot humid weather I end up wearing it up - but that is ok too. In fact I found a new use for Harmony DPN's - they make great hair picks - and they match almost any outfit I could ever come up with. How much better can a $7 purchase be - and you get 5 for that price - Aren't they pretty??

Also someone put a good idea up on Ravelry - If you are flying somewhere and think the TSA might take away your knitting needles (which are legal in the U.S. but the TSA agent is the final say) you would still have something to knit with - just let your hair down on the plane and knit on.....

Wow

I just can't believe how long it has been since my last post. I would love to say I was just too busy to post but it is more that I was too cranky or uninspired to post. Ahh well. . . .

I seriously am going to try to post something more often - If it were a perfect world I would say I will blog everyday - but I know myself too well to commit to that - and anything is more often than in I have been doing - so I will post more often than in the past

I found a blog that I am reading and enjoying more that I thought possible it is My Mom's Blog
I actually started at her first blog post and have read thru to the current one so to borrow from her intro on her blog it says "At 83 years young, Millie Garfield is one of the Internet's oldest bloggers, according to The Ageless Project. With an authentic and humorous voice, a knack for story telling and frequent updates, Millie's blog, My Mom's Blog, shows that people want to hear from someone with a story to tell."

What a joy to read - - she is my inspiration to post more often - I want to be Millie when I grow up :D

Still sad but getting better

I can't think of any more to say about my friend Trish - so I am going to use what I posted on Ravelry -

I considered Trish one of my best friends. So how can you get so close to someone you meet through this thing called the Internet? Trish and I met originally on Knitter’s Review and started by PMing (private messaging) each other. Then it went to email (though neither of us gave our email addresses out easily, lol), and then there were phone calls. We never met in person, but our weird sense of humor was the same (she actually got my jokes), our love of knitting (God, the talent that woman had—check out her project page—and that was only a tiny bit of what she did) and our love of FOOD. Cooking and recipes and hard-to-get exotic ingredients were a big part of our conversations.

Trish was one of those people who did everything well—and if I didn’t love her so much I would have hated her for it ; ). If anyone needed help she was there to give it—and still is—she was an organ donor and her kidneys and corneas already are helping people. I am telling myself that the corneas went to a fellow crafter who now has a chance to continue something they love and her skin will help so many people.

I am stealing this from a post M made on Knitters Review. She spoke with Trish’s husband Bob,and he said,

So far, her donation of skin, organs and corneas have given new hope to 45 people and as Bob expressed, “I am so proud of her for this.” In a note from Bob, Rho learned the donor network also told him that her kidneys were placed yesterday (Friday, March 7) to two people in the Phoenix area and he will be notified about the progress of the recipients.

So as you can see Trish is still helping people. The phrase that comes to mind is she is still helping people knit their lives back together by her selfless donation.

She was also passionate about animals and animal welfare—and was passionate about Cocker Spaniel Rescue. One friend is going to donate money in her honor there.

She may not have posted here (Ravelry) a lot but I know she was on daily checking in with her friends and new patterns and ideas and yarns—the knitting community meant a lot to her. I can see her organizing a Knitting Circle in heaven. I told her husband that and he said to me, “I believe you’re absolutely right about her organizing the Knitting Circle in heaven. I can just see her now, surrounded by knitting needles, bundles of gorgeous yarns, knitted socks, scarfs, shawls, sweaters, patterns and all of her tools sitting with our cocker spaniels and tabby cat.” Isn’t that a husband who appreciated his wife’s passion and paid attention to what she was doing?

Two Two posts in one day -

I just took this quiz and I absolutely love the results so I had to post it immediately




You're The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!

by Douglas Adams

Considered by many to be one of the funniest people around, you are
quite an entertainer. You've also traveled to the far reaches of what you deem possible,
often confused and unsure of yourself. Life continues to jostle you around like a marble,
but it's shown you so much of the world that you don't care. Wacky adventures continue to
lie ahead. Your favorite number is 42.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Wow it's been ages

hasn't it - time just gets away sometimes.

I've had a few bouts with various flu strains going around then MIL was in the hospital and then on hospital hospice so there was lots of running back and forth there. She passed away last Sunday and last week was the wake and funeral - so it has been busy here.

I did take the entire weekend and did nothing at all - I even napped one day for about an hour. Hubster took Saturday to rest up then yesterday met some friends at the range so that was a good mental health day for him.

Now himself is on the phone with a good friend who has been going thru the same thing this past week with his MIL in hospice and she passed away last night - so it looks like we will be going to the same funeral home again.

Once upon a time we got together with family and friends for weddings, births, graduations, etc - now it is at parents funerals.

Camera Fixed!

And here are some pictures - first off my new pet - My Ashford Joy being modeled in what is apparently my modeling chair - this is the wheel that Jane helped me pick out and pick up - Thanks :D
Isn't she pretty..... Second up is some of my spinning of some wonderful blue that Jane picked for me at Rhinebeck and surprised me with - she knows my color for sure doesn't she? - Can I say thank you again -- it actually makes me look pretty good for a brand new spinner - 2 weeks today
and another picture from a different angle - trying to get the light better so you can see - but I am sooo not a photographer...
but you get the idea ---

so be nice - remember I am new at this -

A short note

to mention that I just got a new charger for my camera battery - batteries are charging so maybe by tomorrow I will have pictures of my new wheel up :D

I was going to order a new camera for me but then I decided to look and see if I could get a charger all by itself ..... and they had it -- not only that but it is a better charger because it plugs directly into the outlet AND has an adapter to use to charge it in the car .... much cheaper solution that leaves it open for me to buy more fiber at the retreat --- happy dancing ***

what happens when there is nothing to post

you do a quiz!

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

still feeling blechy, no camera for pictures so this is what you get ;)

For anyone who doesn't know already ....

I got a spinning wheel - well I tried to upload a picture but blogger isn't letting me do it right now - they say they are aware of the problem -- sooo just plug in Ashford Joy Double Treadle into Google and you will see what she looks like. And since I still don't have a working camera that is most likely the picture I was going to use so you are seeing what you would see here. If it lets me later I will post the picture from the Ashford site ....

Jane is the best friend and enabler ever - she even drove me to the store :D

ok - since I have the creeping crud I am going back to bed....

I really really hate to admit it but . . .

the trellis shawl kicked my butt... I gave up on it for now - after ripping it out 14 times I figure it was trying to tell me something. Something like don't do me now!!!!

So I am not using that yarn to make a simple seed stitch which also seems to be giving me a problem - I think I have to put some of the blame on the fibro flare I am in and the fibro fog I seem to be in the mist of. Hopefully tomorrow when I pick up my shawl I will see where I goofed and be able to fix it easily - instead of ripping it out again.... It is so sad it is funny at this point I swear.

Wouldn't we all like to say ....

we had a teeny tiny bit of influence in helping someone get their dream - I know I would - so here is a request from a knitter friend of mine - I voted and I think she deserves the chance to get her book read by a publishing company. It is a fun read and I just know that the "junk" in the cottage is so much more and want to read the whole story to find out what it is. Plus it looks like the romance part of the story will be fun too! So here is the information......

My knitting-romance-writing friend Rachael
has an urgent plea which I have pasted below. Please make her LIFE for her by voting for her, and if you enjoy it, please pass this email along!

You are voting on

Love Spun - The Second Chapter

by Rachael Herron

click on the last star (#10) and as I remember I think I hit enter after that to vote.

**************
Hi there.

Please forgive the mass mailing -- I have a favor to ask.

I'm in a competition you may have already heard about. I wrote a book, a romance, full of yarn and alpacas and sheep and hot knitter-on-shepherd action (no, really). I entered it in Gather.com's First Romance Competition. I posted the first chapter, and it garnered enough votes to move on to the second round (in the top 25 of more than 300), so I'm thrilled to say that I'm a finalist, with people now voting on the second chapter. It's kind of an American Idol type of thing, if you can imagine, and this second round is still vote-driven, and the the most important thing to know is that if I end up in the top three, with the most votes, I move on to the last round where THE WHOLE NOVEL IS READ BY SIMON & SCHUSTER and their favorite is published. Oh, my god. I would like that. I would love that.

So I need your vote. I *really* need your vote. I'm in the top four right now, and the three people ahead of me have LOTS of friends. I need to be in the top three to move on, and you will make ALL the difference.

Here's what you do: Read chapter one, but don't vote on it. That one is nice and content and voted on as it is. Please ignore the typos. They hurt my soul, but they're there.

Then read chapter two and please DO vote. If you like the chapter at all, please give it a 10, as they only count 10s (they throw out all votes of 1-9). The chapters with the most 10-votes win.

Even though I know you want to, don't vote more than once, since they're watching for IP fraud. And you DO have to register with their site in order to vote, but they won't spam you, and they don't share or sell email addresses. They will send you a daily email which you can easily opt out of.

Oh, please, please? And will you forward this note on if you like the chapter? To all YOUR email contacts?

Thanks so much. Here you go:

Don't vote on chapter one:(just to read so you know the story)

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977094360

DO VOTE on chapter two: click on link here .....

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977126255

All my thanks. Really, ALL my thanks. It means so much. Whoo-hooo!

xo
Rachael

This is rho again ----
OK so off you go to vote - right?!?

thanks

Still no pictures BUT

that is a good thing since I ripped my shawl out AGAIN!! I tried to rip it back to where there was a mistake - and pick up the stitches but I couldn't pick up the stitches. So it has been started again for what the 13th or 14th time -- it sure is a good thing I am stubborn isn't it? This time I am going to do it on my new Harmony Knit Pick needles and use the hole in it to try to do a life line every so often so I don't do this ever again .....

And today is our 29th Anniversary - I think I saw the hubster for about an hour today that he was awake in - the guys (we had company) got up and went fishing early this morning and got home in time to pack their car and make it to the ferry. So hopefully we will celebrate later in the week - but not tomorrow Rich is on a dinner committee for Tuesday night and will be shopping an preparing food for that - and of course not Tuesday night because of his dinner and not Wed. night another meeting - - maybe next Friday ;)

But it was a fun long weekend with the company - lots of laughs and none were at my expense LOL And while I am no where near as tired as the guys are I am tired too .... so off to read for a bit then to bed.

BTW - I have the sorest hand ever - in my frustration with my shawl I decided to just knit - and made 5 swiffer covers to use in place of the store bought ones. . . I even put Ben Gay on my thumb joint it is so sore.

Perseverance

or just plain stubbornness - pays off - and it seems for me that 10 times is the charmed number for beginning a project. I started the second ball of yarn tonight -- and I am a very happy camper - I may actually have this done before the Knitters Review Retreat. YIPPEE!!

Second piece of good news - if you scroll to the end of my blog you will see that I have been doing Weight Watchers ----- as as of this morning I am down 15.4 lbs. Many many more to to (in fact a whole adult person) but I am looking at this as a two year project and then a lifelong program so I will make it - sloooowwwly (because after all what do I do that isn't slow anyway) and somewhat patiently. I am doing it in little 5 lb increments because if I tried to look at the whole number it would scare me to death. But I can't wait to hit that 20 lb mark - then it seems that you are really on the way and really serious in your determination. So at every 5 lb mark you all will hear me shouting with glee and you will see the little ticker go up in amount lost.

I seriously suck as a knitter

I haven't blogged because I seriously suck as a knitter - I can't even manage a simple 4 line pattern that makes a trellis pattern - I have frogged my shawl 6 times (yep you read that right SIX times) I was originally doing it with navy cashsoft and red kidsilk haze but after 4 times frogging it I decided to do away with the kidsilk - it is easier to see where I have gone wrong without it - and I really didn't like the purpley color it turned into - I swear when I finally finish this I will never ever take it off. Geeze I am such a loser... but I am going to master this sucker - even though I may still be working on it at the retreat at the rate I am going.

The idea that I am going to be taking a lace class and a color class at the retreat is absolutely terrifying me right now - if I can't do this - can I do anything at all. ARRGGHH!!

So now you all know what a total dweeb I am - can I be anymore pathetic..... K2tog yo or yo ssk -- how hard can it be?!?! I am even counting every row and still making mistakes ......

I won this :D

P1010001.JPG
Originally uploaded by rho1640

over at Jo's Celtic Memory Yarn -- isn't it beautiful - I went to a friends house on the canal to use their mailbox for this picture --of Rho's Periwinkle Cove yarn......which will make the most beautiful pair of socks ever - won't it? I wish I could say the same about my picture taking abilities - this was the best of the bunch - sad isn't it?

Best get off and and start cleaning again - we have company coming for awhile (don't really know how long) tomorrow - and I have been working on getting the spare room habitable. The rest of the house still sucks but he will have a place to sleep at least - I swear someday I will get my life in some sort of order....

my socks

Well a really really bad picture of my socks - I need a Richard in my life Jo (my Richard doesn't take pictures :D) but I guess you get the idea and you get to see a shadow of my head and house as a bonus.

I haven't worked on anything for the last week - between heat, Harry Potter, and a lousy trip to NYC yesterday 3 hours in and 4 hours out (a trip that normally takes 2 hours -- with no rain and flooding) We literally went less than 10 miles in 2 hours on the way home . . . ugh.

Oh - and they are cutting the dead trees down in front of my house - so we now have no trees in front of my house - but at least they figured out why the trees died -- a gas leak -- so now we have to get the village to call the gas company to find where the leak is since it apparently is in addition to the one they fixed in the winter.

Night Owl 2am post

This list was published by a contributor on the Fybromyalgia Association UK forum boards. It's a compilation of the symptoms of FMS.

I actually stole this from a friends blog (thanks Gill) because I thought it was so good. I have other friends who come here that I know have Fibro and I thought they would be interested...but also I think it is good for people who don't have Fibro to see. In no way is this a woe is me post - I just thought it was illuminating and I do have to admit that even having had Fibro for over 25 years I thought "DANG" when I checked off what was currently going on in my body - and that was without even checking off what I have had issues with in the past. It is also a good reminder to me that not everything I have going on now is menopause or age related - that I have been feeling a lot of them for decades and have just started calling it age related. Which in a weird way makes me feel better ;) I'm not getting old and this is nothing new to me.


PHYSIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS:
__ recurrent flu-like illness
__ recurrent sore throats, red and injected
__ painful lymph nodes under the arms and neck
__ muscle and joint aches with tender and trigger points - up to 18 of them
__ night sweats and fever
__ severe nasal and other allergies
__ irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
__ weight change - usually gain
__ heart palpitations
__ mitral valve prolapse
__ severe PMS
__ yeast infections
__ rashes and itching
__ uncomfortable or frequent urination
__ interstitial bladder cystitis
__ chest pains (non-cardiac)
__ temporomandibular joint dysfunction (in the jaw)
__ hair loss
__ carpal tunnel syndrome
__ cold hands and feet
__ dry eyes and mouth
__ severe and debilitating fatigue
__ widespread pain
__ other chronic illness(es) usually present (like diabetes, hypoglycemia, asthma, lupus, ms, etc.)
__ numbness in the limbs, not painful like pins & needles
__ painful swelling in the hands, legs, feet, neck
__ GERDs (gastro-esophageal reflux disorder)
__ “growing pains” start in childhood and teens, continue into adulthood
__ widespread body pain during/after physical exertion

COGNITIVE FUNCTION PROBLEMS:
__ attention deficit disorder
__ spatial disorientation
__ calculation difficulties
__ memory disturbance
__ communication difficulties (problems speaking, confusing words)

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS:
__ depression
__ anxiety and panic attacks
__ personality changes, usually for the worse
__ emotional lability (mood swings)

OTHER NERVOUS SYSTEM PROBLEMS:
__ sleep disturbances
__ headaches
__ changes in visual acuity
__ numb or tingling feelings
__ burning sensations
__ light headedness
__ feeling 'spaced out'
__ desequilibrium
__ frequent unusual nightmares and disturbing dreams
__ tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
__ difficulty in moving your tongue to speak
__ severe muscle weakness
__ susceptibility to muscle, tendon, ligament injury
__ intolerance to bright lights
__ intolerance to alcohol
__ intolerance to sound
__ extreme sensitivity to medications and their side-effects
__ alteration of taste, smell, and hearing
__ insomnia
__ inability to achieve stage 4 restorative sleep
__ morning stiffness in the muscles and joints
__ restless leg syndrome
__ muscle spasms
__ muscle quakiness and shivering during/after activity or exercise
__ sleep paralysis (related to stage 4 sleep deprivation)


oh and for knitting content I almost have one 4th of July sock done working on toe decreases and have to try to remember the Kitchener (did I spell that right?) stitch and hope to wash and block it and get a pic before hubby runs off with the camera Tuesday night.

Yard work continues

we had the irrigation guy stop by yesterday and today hubster went and got all the required parts for that - also ordered a mark out by electric and gas company so no lines get hit. No pictures still - waiting for a grand reveal - maybe when there is actual grass even.

The neighbor must have liked our hedges though because she had had hers done earlier in the year but today they were back and did them to the same height as ours.

We are lucking out on the cost (even though it is still going to run pretty high) because almost everyone we have used (including the company that has the parts for the irrigation) are members of the Fire Department and everyone is giving us breaks...... as annoyed as I can get at the time required for the FD it is a family that helps out when they can. Which shouldn't surprise me because hubster helps everyone out when he is able to also.

Talked to a friend who is a carpenter on how much it would cost to build the shed - if it is anywhere near the cost to have one delivered - I will order one already made and delivered. The company that does them does a good job but they are pretty expensive. So I will figure in time to get it done also.

Can you tell I want this done with lawnmowers in the shed so it will never end up the way it was again.

On the knitting front - my 4th of July socks are coming along slowly because I am also doing a bag as a knit along with one of my knitting circles - but the cotton ribbon in that is beating up my hands. Plus I had to rip it out as we decided that it should be done in smaller needles to make it stretch less when done.